Channeling-machine.



H. W. WINTER. UHANNELING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED D2014. 1910.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

3 SHEETS-"SHEET 1.

Fig.1.

W/TA/ESSEi W @g M THE NORRIS PEIERS CD PHOIO-LIIHQ, WASHINGTON D C H. W. WINTER.

CHANNELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED D110 24. 1910.

1,1 1 5,046. Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fig. 2.

W/TA/ESSES. WV VMR.

H. W. WINTER.

CHANNELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO.24,1910.

1 1 1 5,046. Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

barren s'rATEs PATENT ent ies.

HENRY W. WINTER, OF METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITEDSHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEV JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW.

JERSEY.

CHANNELINGJVIACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27', 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY W. WINTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Methuen, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Channeling-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon soles and is herein illustrated as embodied in a channeling machine. In machines of this type the knives require fre: quent sharpening. Ordinarily at each replacement of the knives after the sharpening operation said knives must be carefully readjusted, and it is only afterrepeated trials that the cutting edges are brought to just the positions required.

Accordingly one feature of the present invention consists in the provision in a machine of the class described of readily removable knife blocks by which the knives are held and with respect to which they are adjustable. With this construction after a knife has once been adjusted, said knife and its block may be removed from the machine sharpened and replaced without disturbing the vertical, lateral or angular adjustment of said knife. In the case of the channeling knife of the illustrative machine it is necessary in replacing said knife merely to slide the removable knife block along in its holder until the edge of the knife is at a proper distance from the presser foot and then to clamp said block in place. In the case of the grooving knife the procedure is identical except that the grooving knife is brought up close to the rear of the channeling knife. No further adjustments are required, and the machine will then produce a channel and a groove of the same characteristics as were produced before the knives were removed from the machine. 1

In channeling soles the channel is not out entirely around the sole but stops short of the rear end thereof, a portion about the heel being left uncut. Hitherto when the knife has reached that point at which it is desired that the channel should end, it has been customary, after the knife and presser devices have been raised from the feed wheel, to pull the sole sharply so as to chine.

cause the knife to break through the channel flap and thus release the solo from themachine. In the present invention, this necessity for forcibly freeing the sole has been obviated by the provision of. automatic means for holding the sole from moving upwardly with the knife; and in the illustrated embodiment this result is brought about by providing a spring which acts against the vertically movable carrier in which the knife and presscr foot are mounted to urge the presser foot downwardly with respect to the knife. hen, therefore, the carrier, and with it the knife, are raised at the end of the channeling operation, the presser foot does not rise during the first part of the upward movement of the carrier with the result that the sole is held down upon the feed wheel for a moment during which the knife in moving upwardly severs the channel flap.

In channeling soles which are formed with a sharp curve at the toe it is necessary that the machine be run comparatively slowly at this point, while along the forcpart and shank the channel may be out much more rapidly. It has, therefore, been customary to provide channeling machines with means for controlling the power applied to the feed mechanism at any given moment; and a very satisfactory device of this nature is the one used in the hand-belt-power ma In such machines a crank operatively connected with the driving shaft is provided with a friction clutch actuating member, the parts being so constructed and arranged that, when the crank is turned, the members of the friction clutch are pressed together with more or less force according to the force which is being exerted to turn the crank. It sometimes happens, however, that the contour of the soles to be channeled is such that no variation in the speed of the machine is necessary, and in such cases it is desirable that the machine be capable of being actuated continuously at a constant speed. I

Accordingly, another feature of this invention consists in the provision in a machine of the class described of a handle movable manually to control the actuation of 29 the knife together with its block may be readily removed from the machine and returned to it without disturbing in any way the angular, lateral or vertical adjustment of the grooving knife. The channeling knife 15 has a stock (not shown) provided responding to the grooving knife block holder 23 and the bolt 27.

With the construction thus far described, it will be evident that after loosening the pinch bolts 5 and moving the head angularly in its socket, or prefe'ably removing said head from the machine, the grooving and the channeling knives together with their respective blocks may be removed from the machine, and after having been ground, may be replaced in the machine without disturbing the angular or lateral adj ustments with respect to their respective holders. The channeling knife block is merely moved along in the dove-tailed slot in its holder until the edge of the knife is in close proximity to the presser foot and clamped in position and then the grooving knife is similarly moved up to the channel knife and clamped in place. No further adjustments are necessary; and a sole then fed to the machine will have cut in it a channel and groove identical with those which were cut in other soles previously to the removal and replacement of the knives. It should be noted in this connection that the knife blocks are so constructed that they interfere in no way with the grinding operation so that it is not necessary to remove the knife from its block nor to disturb its adjustment with respect thereto.

The channeling knife block holder 39 is held in adjusted position by means of the rod 13 and the nuts 15 and 47 as shown. The grooving knife block holder 23 is provided with a vertical. bore 49 which is intersected by a horizontal bore 51. A roc 53 extends into the vertical bore and is threaded into a pin 55 which extends through the horizontal bore and is normally held in contact with the upper wall of said bore by a spring 57. lVith this construction the grooving knife may be raised independently of the channeling knife, when desired, and in order to provide ready means for such raising, the holder 23 is provided with a socket 59 to receive the end of a lever 61 which may be operated by a treadle rod 63, said lever being pivoted to the carrier. The carrier 7 is slidably mounted upon the head l and may be raised against the force of the spring 9 by a second lever 65 which at one end engages said head and at the other is connected with a treadle rod (37.

The feed wheel is fast to a shaft (30 which is mounted in bearings 71 and 73, the hearing 71 beingslidably mounted in the frame of the machine and being normally held in the positionshown by a spring 7 The outward movement of the bearing islimited by an adjustable stop 77 which is threaded into the frame of the machine and has a head which engages a lug 78 on the bearing. The inward movement of the feed wheel against the force of the spring is adjustably limited by a nut 7 6. A set screw 80 is threaded through an arm 79 which is pivoted at 81 to the frame of the machine; and

this arm has an extension which is connected at one end with a lever 83 the other end of which is connected to a treadle rod 85. \Vith this construction it is possible by depressing the treadle rod 85 at the proper time to vary the distance of the channel from the edge of the sole and to determine the maximum distance by means of the nut 76, a result desirable in. the manufacture of shoes having soles which project farther beyond the upper at one portion than at another.

The feed wheel preferably comprises a plurality of toothed sections 87 the inner ones of which are so connected with the hub that forward rotation is permitted with respect to said hub but rearward rotation is prevented, this c mstruction facilitating the turning of the soles particularly at the too. The particular construction of the feed wheel, however, is immaterial so far as this invention is concerned. Whatever the form of wheel it is desirable that the extent to which the teeth enter the leather be capable of being controlled, and in the illustrative machine an expansible guard, best shown in Fig. 3, is provided. This guard comprises segmental sections 89 which are adjustahly clamped by means of screws 90 to a member which rotates withthe feed wheel, herein shown as the gear 101 the function of which will presently be described. The outlines of the inner edges of these sections form curves which are not concentric with the axis of the hub 91 of the gear 101; and mounted upon said hub is a cam 92 angular movement of which in one direction forces the sections outwardly and in the other direction permits them to be moved inwardly, said cam being held in adjusted position by clampin screws 93 which pass through holes 95 in the gear and are threaded into the cam. As appears from the drawing the countcrsinks which receive the heads of the screws 90 are of slightlygreater diameter-than the heads of said screws, and it should be understood that the holes which receive the stems of the screws are similarly of slightly greater 1 diameter than said stems. The extent of adjustment of the sections is very small and.

does not substantially change the circular outline of the guard.

The edge gage 97 is rotatably mounted upon an upright stud 99 which is carried by y the bearing 71 and is rotated from the gear 101 as shown, a bevel gear 103 being pinned to the edge gage.

According to the character of the soles which are to be operated upon it is sometimes desirable to actuate the feed wheel at; constant velocity by power and at other times to actuate it at a varying velocity which is under the control of the operator. It is also desirable that means be provided for changing the velocity at which the feed wheel may be run continuously. The mechanism by which these results are made possible will now be described.

A hollow driving shaft 105 is mounted in bearings 107 and 109; and in this shaft are mounted solid shaft 113 and a slidable key 115. The hollow shaft is provided with two diametrically opposite slots 117, and through these slots as well as through a bore in the solid shaft 113 extends a pin 119 by which. a friction member 121 is held, the connection being such that rotation of said friction member compels rotation of both the hollow shaft 105 and the solid shaft 113 while at the same time a limited extent of movement of the friction member and solid shaft longitudinally of the hollow shaft is permitted. The friction member 121 is normally held in the position shown by means of a spring 123 and may be moved to the right against the force of the spring into engagement with a friction surface on a driving pulley 125 by means of a cam 127 which is held normally in the position shown by a spring 129 and may be moved angularly by means of a troadle rod 131 which is pivotally connected with a lug 133 on the cam. The driving pulley 125 has firmlydriven into its bore a bushing 135 slidable and rotatable on the hollow shaft 105, on the end of which is screwed a conical collar 137; and the movement of the bushing and hence of the collar and pulley toward the right is limited by a nut 139 which is screwed on the hollow shaft 105, said nut being held firmly in adjusted position by means of a lock nut 1 11. By this construction the normal position of the pulley, and hence its distance from the friction member 121, can be controlled. With. the construction thus far described, it will be apparent that depression of the treadle rod 131 will cause continuous rotation of the driving shaft at a uniform velocity. In order to permit operation so as to vary the velocity when desired, an arm 1 13 the hub 14st of which is loosely mounted uponthe nuts 139 and. 141 is .provided with clutch teeth 145 which cooperate with similar clutch teeth 147 formed upon a collar 149 which is threaded upon the solid shaft 113 and held fast thereto by the nut 151, a spring I 153 of less strength than the spring 123 tending normally to separate the clutch teeth on said arm and collar. A crank arm 155 pivoted at 156 to the arm 1 13 is provided at one end with a handle 157 and at the other with a wedge 159, best shown in Fig. 7, which is adapted to be forced between the hub of the arm 143 and the cam collar 137 and thereby to move the pulley 125 toward the left into engagement with the friction member 121. Thus when the handle 157 is turned by the operator the wedge operates as described above to apply power to the driving shaft 105 thereby relieving the operator of any considerable effort. And this application of power may be delicately graduated by the operator who holds the handle 57 during the rotation of the mechanism so that the speed at which the sole is fed to the knife at any given instant may be controlled. It will be understood that, when the handle is being used, the cam 127 will be in the position shown.

As has been stated above, the machine may be run continuously at constant speed by depressing the treadle rod 131. A single speed, however, would not meet all requirements, and provision is therefore made for several speeds either one of which may be made use of. And to this end three loose 161, 163 and 165 are rotatably mounted upon the driving shaft 105, and any one of them may be locked from rotation with respect thereto by the Slidable key 115 which is provided with a web 167 arranged to slide in diametrically opposite slots formed in the driving shaft. The bores of the gears are formed with corresponding diametrically opposite grooves which are designed to receive the web 167 of the key 115 when said grooves register with the slots in the driving shaft. It will thus be apparent that after rotating the gears until the grooves register with the slots the key may be moved to look any selected one of the gears to the driving shaft. And in order to prevent the key from being moved by the vibration of the machine the stem is provided with three sockets 169 which are designed to receive a spring-pressed locking ball 171. The three gears 161, 163 and 165 mesh respectively with three gears 173, 175 and 177 which are fast to the feed wheel shaft 69. As shown, the gear 173 is keyed directly to said shaft and the gears 175 and 177 are keyed to the gear 173; the effect, however, is to compel the shaft 69 to rotate with the gears.

The grooving knife, as will be seen by an inspection of Figs. 2, 4; and 5, is of tubular form; and this knife removes from the sole at the base of the channel a comparatively slender string of leather. Frequently this string falls back into the groove from which it was removed so that after the channeling operation it is necessary to lift up a portion the channel and to guide it away from the movingparts of the machine, astringguide,

best shown in Figs. 2, 1 and 5, is provided. This string guide comprises a small trough 179 fast to a pin or shank 181 which passes through a bore in the grooving knife block 29 and is acted upon by a set screw 183 by which the trough may be held. in adjusted angular and lateral position.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the machine is shown as provided with a freely rotatable presser wheel 19 to contact with the sole at one side of the channel knife and with a presser foot 20 to contact with the solo at a point to the rear of that at which the presser wheel contacts, the object being to hold the sole firmly down upon the feed wheel during the cutting operation and thus insure a channel ofuniform depth. j

Instead of using the presser wheel and presser foot referred to above, a presser foot 187 of the form shown in Fig. 1 maybe used.

This foot has a cut-away portion to receive the knife, as shown, a projecting too 189 being thus formed which contacts with the sole not only at a point in line with the edge of the knife but also at a point in advance of such edge. Although for convenience the foot has been described as having a cutaway portion by which a projecting toe is formed, it might with equal accuracy be said that the presser foot is provided with a projecting toe whereby a recess is formed for the reception of the cutting portion of the knife. A presser foot of this form is a much simpler and more economical form of construction than the presser foot and presser wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and for certain grades of work is very effective. In both cases, however, the presser foot is supported at the end of a rod 191 and is normally held in its lowermost position by a spring 193, the extent of movement of said rod being limited by nuts 195. When, therefore, the head is raised and with it the knife, the spring holds the sole down upon the feed wheel, and the knife, as it is raised,

cuts through the channel flap and leaves the stock, the sole being then free to be removed from the "machine. In order that the presser foot may be held in raised position during the adjustment of the knife an arm 197, pivoted to the carrier 7, is provided with two inclines 199 which may be forced between the nut 195 which contacts with the carrier 7 and said carrier.

The driving pulley 125 is run continuously by power, and the tension of the belt (not shown) which passes around said pulley may be adjusted by means of a tightener pulley 205 which is held in position by a belt 207. 1 i

In adjusting the machine the head 1 is removed and ield in inverted position in a holder which receives the stem 2. The lever 197 is moved to move and hold the presser foot in opposition to the spring193. The channeling knife holder is adjusted vertically to bring the edge of the knife flush with the operative edge of the presser foot, and the knife is adjusted laterally and angularly with respect to its block 37. The knife block 37 is then adjusted horizoiltally to bring the edge of the knife as close to the presser foot as possible while still allowing sullicient space to permit the channel flap to pass between the knife and foot. The grooving knife and the string guide are adjusted with respect to the block 29, the holder 23 is adjusted vertically, and the block is adjusted horizontally until the forward portion of the grooving knife is as close to the back of the channel knife as is possible. The lever 197 is moved tothe position shown and the head is then returned to the machine and fastened in place by the screw bolts 5.

The operation of the machine is then as follows:"he head is raised to permit a sole to be fed between the presser foot and the feed wheel, after which the head is lowered, the sole being guided and turned b the 0)01Lt0l durin the channclin and 193,11olds the sole firmly down upon the feed wheel while the knife as it rises cuts through the channel flap. In case it is wished to produce an extension edge on the sole, the treadle rod 85 is depressed at the desired location, the maximum extent of said extension edge having been determined beforehand by adjustment of the nut 76. If it is desired to move the key 1.15 the shaft 105 is turned by hand until the gears have reached the proper relative position where upon the key may be drawn out or pushed in as the case may be, said key being automatically engaged by the spring-pressed ball 171. Ashas been stated, the machine may be actuated by turning the handle 157 or by depressing the treadle rod 131. In case the operator desires to vary the speed at which different portions of a sole are fed, he may turn the handle 157. As the handle is.

clutch thrown in and kept thrown in as long as sutiicient force is being applied to the handle 157, the force necessary being very slight. It should be noted, too, that by varying the pressure between the members of the friction clutch, the angular velocity of the driving shaft 105 is controlled. The operator, therefore, has complete control of the speed at which the sole shall be fed and can vary said speed at will. In case the operator desires to feed the soles at a constant speed, he adjusts the change speed gearing as described above and depresses the treadle rod 131 thereby forcing the member 121 into frictional engagement with the pul- 16;; 125. with it the solid shaft 113 and consequently the collar 14-9, the spring 153 acting to pre vent movement of the hub of the lever 1453 longitudinally of the shaft 105. The clutch teeth 1 15 and 147 are thus disconnected, and,

the handle 157, crank 155 and lever 1 13 do not revolve. Longitudinal movement of the shaft 105 is prevented by two collars 209 and 211 while end thrust of the parts is taken by two ball bearings 213 and 215.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A machine of the class described having a knife and means for advancing a piece of stock thereto in combination with a substantially vertical holder provided at its lower end with a pair of jaws, means for moving one of said jaws toward the other, a knife block by which said knife is held, said block being adapted to be inserted between said jaws from below, and means for holding said knife in adjusted angular position with respect to said block.

2. A machine of the class described having a knife and means for advancing a piece of stock thereto in combination with a substantially vertical holder provided with a substantially horizontal guideway open at its under side, said guideway being formed with a movable wall whereby the width of said guideway may be varied, means for moving said wall, a knife block adapted to be inserted in and removed from said guideway when said wall is in open position and to be held clamped in said guideway when said wall is in closed position, and means for ad ustably fastenlng said kn1fe to said knife block.

3. A machine of the class described having a knife and means including a presser foot for advancing a piece of stock to said knife in combination with a holder provided with an open sided guideway, a block in which said knife is angularly adjustable, said block being removable from the open side of said guideway and slidable in said guideway toward and from said presser foot,

The friction member 121 carries and means for clamping said block in adjusted position in said guideway.

4:. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a channeling knife, means under the control of the operator for raising said knife, means for feeding a piece of stock to said knife, a presser foot for holding the stock in engagement with said feeding means, and yielding means for urging said foot toward said feeding means whereby, when said knife is raised, it is caused to cut through the surface of said stock.v

I 5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a channeling knife, means under the control of the operator for raising said knife, means for feeding a piece of stock to said knife, a presser foot continuously in engagement with said stock to press it against said feeding means, and yielding means for urging said foot toward said feeding means. 7

6. A machine of the class described having a channeling knife, means under control of the operator for raising said knife, a feed wheel, and means for actuating said feed wheel in combination with means for holding the stock down upon the feed wheel trol of the operator for raising said carrier a feed wheel and means for actuating said 1 wheel in combination wit-h a presser foot movable with respect to said carrier, a spring normally compressed during the operation of the machine and arranged to move said foot toward said wheel and a stop for limiting the extent of such movement, said stop being arranged to permit the presser foot to approach nearer than the knife to the feed wheel whereby, when the carrier is raised, the knife is first raised and then the presser foot.

8. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a knife, a feed mechanlsm, means movable manually to control the rotation of said mechanism and means said feed wheel, a continuously rotating,

member, a handle normally connected with said shaft whereby said shaft is normally compelled to turn therewith, and means for successively disconnecting said handle from said shaft and for connecting said continuously rotating member with said shaft.

1].. A machine of the class described having a knife and means including a toothed feed wheel for advancing stock thereto in coi'nbinat-ion with an expansible guard for limiting the extent to which the teeth of the wheel penetrate the stock.

12. A machine of the class described having a knife and means including a toothed feed wheel for advancing stock thereto in combination with an expansible guard for limiting the extent to which the teeth of the wheel penetrate the stock, said guard comprising a plurality of sections one face of each of which has the outline of a segment of a circle and a cam mounted on the hub of said wheel and adapted, when rotated, to force said sections outwardly.

13. A machine of the class described having in combination a knife, an edge gage, a gear fastto said gage, a feed wheel shaft, a second gear mounted upon said shaft and meshing with said first named gear, a feed wheel also mounted upon said shaft, an ex- "pansible guard located between said wheel and second gear, and means for rotating said shaft.

14L. In a machine of the class described the combination with a grooving knife of a string guide angular-1y adjustable with respect to said knife, and means for holding said string guide in adjusted position.

15. In a machine of the class described the combination with a grooving knife of a string guide in the form of a trough aranged with its open side uppermost and means whereby said string guide may be angularly adjusted with respect to said knife.

16. A machine of the class described having a grooving knife and means for advancing a piece of stock thereto in combination with a block by which said knife is adj ustably held, a string guide also adjustably held by said block, and means for removably holding said block in position whereby said block may readily be removed and replaced while maintaining the adjustments of said knife and string guide with respect to said block.

17. A machine of the class described hav ing, in combination, a knife, a feed wheel, means for actuating said feed wheel, a presser foot movable toward and from said wheel, a spring normally maintaining the operative portion of said foot nearer than the knife to the surface of the feed wheel, and means for raising said foot and holding it in raised position.

18. In a machine of the class described the combination with a grooving knife of a string guide angularly and laterally ad justable with respect to said knife and means for holding said string guide in adjusted position.

19. A machine of the class described having a knife and a feed wheel for advancing Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington. 13.0.? r 

